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But history is being erased!!!

“We’re erasing history when we take down statues and remove the Confederate flag. Stop erasing history!”

This is the argument of the moment. It’s the idea that if we take down statues honoring Confederate personalities from Southern State capitals and non-battlefield locations (and in some places outside of the South – ie Maryland), then we are erasing their memory and erasing the memory of what the Civil War was really about.

Here’s are some things to consider regarding this argument.

1. Let’s talk about actual history. In my sermon this past week I quoted people who were alive at the time of the confederacy to show what the Confederacy was actually about – slavery. You really can’t do research on this and not find plenty of quotes from the era that shows that the Confederacy and the Confederate cause during the Civil War was really about preserving slavery and the structures and systems that supported slavery. Look up William Thompson, the man who designed the Confederate flag – read what he said the flag stood for. Read the Secession Statements from any of the Confederate State. Read the words of Jefferson Davis, the first president of the Confederacy. It’s pretty clear what these folks, who made up the actual Confederacy, believed what the Confederacy was about. That’s not twisting history – those are actual beliefs of the people who started and supported the Confederacy. For those who support the idea of maintaining the original intent of the Constitution, then we should use the same logic when it comes to the original intent of the Confederacy too.

2. While we’re talking about history, let’s talk about the history of the actual statues – when were they put up and why. Most of these statues went up in the early 1900’s and were efforts to keep alive the ideas of the Confederacy. They were placed in locations that were meant to send a clear signal of who was in charge and who was acceptable

3. What history are we actually erasing? – the fake history of the beautiful antebellum south that never existed in the first place, or the façade that gets thrown around as Gospel truth because we prefer to remember the Confederacy as something quaint and pleasant. Do we keep this fake history because the reality of slavery is just too difficult to deal with? And the fact that somewhere around a million people died because of the Civil War.

4. Does this mean that the only memory we have of the confederacy resides in statues and a flag? I don’t see a whole of statues and flags dedicated to Rome, or Greece here in the US – and yet, somehow, we manage to remember the history of those civilizations. Maybe that’s just too distant and on foreign soil. How about this instead. Are there any statues for the war of 1812, how about flags with the appropriate stars on the flag? Yet we still have a memory of this war. Statues and flags aren’t the only way to remember history. If it was, we’d be screwed. And frankly, the internet would have disappeared as something powerful for human memory too.

5. What is the real fear? Is the fear that we’ll talk about the truth of the history and that we’ll feel guilty that we’ve been honoring a lie this long?

6. So if we extend the logic that is being argued here originally, then we should have forced the Iraqi people to keep up the statue of Saddam Hussein, lest they erase history. We should have highly encouraged the Russians to keep up the statue of Lenin when communism fell, in order to preserve history. We should have left the “whites only” and “blacks only” signs up in order to preserve history. Or maybe that’s different, although I’m not sure how.

7. Some times tearing down statues and laying flags to rest isn’t about erasing history at all. Sometimes it’s about remembering the actual history and the horror that goes with it and deciding that there are better ways to remember history, and it’s not by erecting or keeping statues that tell a skewed history. Instead, let’s tell the full history. Here’s a pretty good article that asks an important question that relates to this very issue – http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/20/why-there-are-no-nazi-statues-in-germany-215510 Why are there no nazi statues in Germany?

I’ve been to one of the locations that keeps the actual history of Nazism alive and well – Dachau concentration camp. There, they keep the actual history of what happened alive. It’s not a façade. It’s real. When we start actually keeping history of the Confederacy, then I’ll be happy to go to a monument that shows what it was about. I will walk the grounds of a plantation – especially the slave “residence” and learn about the life of the slave and see monuments dedicated to slaves who died at the hands of their masters. Why do we erase this portion of history? Because it’s uncomfortable? It’s our history and we don’t want to deal with it. It’s easier to tell a lie, then deal with reality. It’s not as painful. It requires no change. Until we acknowledge the actual history of the confederacy, we aren’t going to move past it.

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4 thoughts on “But history is being erased!!!”

As a historian, I can attest to the horrors and inhumane treatment of both white and black slaves under the auspices of the government of the South during the Civil War, ie. the Confederacy. There are primary and secondary documents noting the workings of Southern Plantation Owners and how some of them worked their slaves or their property as they were referred to. Yes there were some Southern folks who participated in the Underground Railroad and did their best to treat slaves like humans, even secretly teaching them how to read and write.

As far as the statues go, yes they are but a memory of a time when America was split between the North and the South. Yes if you look at history truthfully, the statues of the military and government leaders do honor the memory of the leaders themselves. Yes, we may not agree or like what these leaders accomplished; however, if you strictly look at their military strength and strategies, some of the Southern military leaders were in fact intelligent. Hey, some of them graduated from West Point. We perhaps do not condone their actions but do we condone the actions of our calvary when they butchered and eliminated men, women, and children of the Native American groups? During the Vietnam War we also butchered innocent folks because “Charlie”, aka North Vietnam Communists, used people to deliver bombs, etc. just like ISIS and the Taliban do now all over the world. WWI and WWII, innocent people were killed too. Yes there are memories of those who died to save all of us.

I am glad Lenin, Stalin and Hitler do not have statues and monuments honoring them and their deviant, evil work and ideology. I do believe that because we as Americans can attest to and know that we did wrong to so many people, maybe we should be reminded so that history does not repeat itself. All ethic groups, races, etc. have been at one time or another been slaves because a neighboring country or tribe had the power to control by force, others. Slavery is not good for anyone.

I conclude with that I am glad that I believe God and all the saints will assist and guide us to be good Catholics and/or Christians. To believe in God is awesome.

Matthew, as a Southerner for life, this issue is not an academic one for me. My ancestors have lived in the South ever since my immigrant ancestor landed in Virginia in 1700. For me, the South has a culture (or used to when I was younger) that did not necessarily involve support of slavery. In fact, my Alabama family fought on the side of the Union during the war.

The South was my home and my culture and was different from the rest of the United States just as other areas of strong culture are. To me, the confederate flag symbolized that culture and was dear to me. But this is no longer so. While the flag has been misused by racists in the past, it is now so compromised that I advocate its removal from any place of prominence. The flag can no longer be separated from hate and racism. And this is a sad thing for me.

I also agree that confederate monuments should be removed from prominent places and contained in museums or confederate battlefields. This is part of my Southern journey.

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I believe that God, church, and theology are approachable, enjoyable, and relevant for everyone. I write about this a lot because people need to hear it. So many people feel lost, hopeless, alone, and are searching for identity and meaning.
I'm an ELCA Pastor (Lutheran) who has a background in politics, business, and the non-profit worlds. I take churchy theological ideas and words and communicate them in everyday language that people can understand, in ways that relate, and show that God, church, and theology matter a great deal. Oh, and it doesn't have to be boring either - mostly because it's the best news ever!